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Friday Reads and a weird anniversary

Posted: June 7, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: morning reads | Tags: , , , |32 Comments

dorothy parkerGood Morning All!

I apologize for my absence but I have a sinus infection that has really impacted my eyes so I am not spending a lot of time looking at screens. They are driving me crazy right now.  I am trying to use eye drops but the best thing I have found is just to keep a warm washcloth on them and listening to music or radio instead.  I do feel slightly better today so I am hoping that it’s going away.

I had a weird little greeting today on my WordPress bar.  It appears that today is my fifth anniversary as a blog owner so it is also this little virtual hamlet’s fifth year in existence.  Do you remember what we were doing together five years ago in a blog far far away?  Or maybe two blogs far far away?

I was actually looking for some of our comments from back then but decided that I’d just remind you about how most of us met over a brokered convention five years ago and how we were shoved from blog to blog until we’ve found some interesting way places and homes.  Do you remember your thoughts five years ago?  I was pretty mad as I recall.  So, today we’re going to look a little at 2008 and 2013.

So, today I have pulled  a post from Politico with this headline: ‘Bush’s 4th term’ by Glenn Thrush.

The outrage over President Barack Obama’s authorization of a nearly limitless federal dive into Americans’ phone records obscures a hiding-in-plain-sight truth about the 44th president many of his supporters have overlooked for years:

For all his campaign-trail talk of running the “most transparent administration” in U.S history, Obama never promised to reverse the 43rd president’s policies on domestic anti-terrorism surveillance — and he’s been good on his word.

Obama’s effort to strike what he’s repeatedly called “a balance” between personal liberty and homeland security has exposed what amounts to a split political personality: Candidate Obama often spoke about personal freedom with the passion of a constitutional lawyer — while Commander-in-Chief Obama has embraced and expanded Bush-era surveillance efforts like the 2011 extension of the Patriot Act, which paved the way for a secret court order allowing the gathering of Verizon phone records.

In an irony now being savored by his conservative critics, Obama administration officials are now relying on Republicans to defend him against charges from liberals and the libertarian right that he’s recklessly prioritized national security over personal liberty.

“Drone strikes. Wiretaps. Gitmo. Renditions. Military commissions. Obama is carrying out Bush’s fourth term, yet he attacked Bush for violating the Constitution,” said Ari Fleischer, George W. Bush’s press secretary.

“He’s helping keep the nation safe, vindicating President Bush, all while putting a bipartisan stamp on how to fight terror,” Fleischer added.

So this makes an interesting backdrop to my previous reflections on five years ago when I was told that Obama was the more liberal candidate edith whartonand didn’t support the Iraq war.

Obama in 2007: “No more national security letters to spy on citizens who are not suspected of a crime, no more tracking citizens who do nothing more than protest a misguided war…” While Obama publicly expressed outcry at monitoring of citizens protesting Iraq, his administration’s collection of Verizon phone records was broader. Unlike the Bush White House, which sometimes did not use a warrant, the Obama Administration had a warrant from a FISA judge. Obama goes on to mention that FISA court system, which he used to get his warrant for the broad seizing of Verizon records, works.

We now have Republicans defending Obama based on carrying out Dubya’s National Security pogrome or is it Dick Cheney’s and Donald Rumsfeld’s plan.  My memory fails me.

Documents indicate that the federal government is mining data from nine big internet companies. This project is known as PRISM.

Government officials and the document itself made clear that the NSA regarded the identities of its private partners as PRISM’s most sensitive secret, fearing that the companies would withdraw from the program if exposed. “98 percent of PRISM production is based on Yahoo, Google and Microsoft; we need to make sure we don’t harm these sources,” the briefing’s author wrote in his speaker’s notes.

An internal presentation of 41 briefing slides on PRISM, dated April 2013 and intended for senior analysts in the NSA’s Signals Intelligence Directorate, described the new tool as the most prolific contributor to the President’s Daily Brief, which cited PRISM data in 1,477 items last year. According to the slides and other supporting materials obtained by The Post, “NSA reporting increasingly relies on PRISM” as its leading source of raw material, accounting for nearly 1 in 7 intelligence reports.

That is a remarkable figure in an agency that measures annual intake in the trillions of communications. It is all the more striking because the NSA, whose lawful mission is foreign intelligence, is reaching deep inside the machinery of American companies that host hundreds of millions of American-held accounts on American soil.

The technology companies, whose cooperation is essential to PRISM operations, include most of the dominant global players of Silicon Valley, according to the document. They are listed on a roster that bears their logos in order of entry into the program: “Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.” PalTalk, although much smaller, has hosted traffic of substantial intelligence interest during the Arab Spring and in the ongoing Syrian civil war.

So, we’ve read and written about the white guy from Shreveport, LA who sent out Ricin-laced letters to a bunch of politicians.  There was also a ricin case in 2008.

In 2008, authorities said a man in Las Vegas may have accidentally poisoned himself with ricin that he had made from a backyard castor plant. Roger Bergendorff told The Associated Press at the time that he made the ricin just for the sake of having it, and swore he had no intention of harming anyone. He was sentenced to more than three years in prison.

So, that article shows exactly how many ricin cases we’ve had.  But, how come we don’t see these instances labelled act of terrorism? Remember, Is it because some crazy white American guy does it?

In late May, a  threatening letter laced with the deadly chemical ricin was sent from  Shreveport, Louisiana, to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a response to the mayor’s outspoken support for stricter gun control laws. Two  identical letters, also containing the lethal substance, were addressed to both President Barack Obama and the head of the Washington D.C. lobbying group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is managed and funded by Bloomberg himself.

The contents of the letters are clearly the work of a right-wing gun nut and  readas follows: “You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional, god-given right and I will exercise that right till the day I die. What’s in this letter is nothing compared to what I’ve got planned for you.”

Despite lethally targeting civilians and non-military officials far from any active battlefield, no one is referring to these acts as terrorism. Not the press, not political pundits, not the intended victims. No one.

In fact, Bloomberg himself was nonplussed by the whole ordeal,  tellingreporters on May 30, “I’m not angry. There are people who I would argue do things that may be irrational, do things that are wrong, but it’s a very complex world out there and we just have to deal with that.”

Yes, Mike, it is a very complex world. This world is so complex, in fact, that an easily  identifiable act of terrorism isn’t considered terrorism for one simple reason: it probably wasn’t committed by a Muslim, but rather by some white guy in the South.

Clearly, while white guys who send murderous mail are merely acting irrationally and doing something wrong, potential violence by members of the Muslim faith present a singular threat to our civilized society. So much so, in fact, that Michael Bloomberg himself believes our own laws and the bedrock of that very society are not good enough to defend against such a scourge to humanity.

William Faulkner In Hollywood  I’ve got yet another great tieback to 2008 before I close and go rest my eyes. Clive Cook writes about why politicians will not give up on austerity even though it is all wrong. 

What we know, or think we know, about fiscal policy five years after the global recession started isn’t all that different from what we knew, or thought we knew, back in 2008. It boils down to two points. One, fiscal stimulus is essential when conventional monetary policy is powerless. Two, fiscal stimulus may be impossible even when it’s essential.

Most economists agree that changes in interest rates are usually a better way to regulate demand than discretionary changes in taxes and public spending. But interest rates can’t fall to less than zero. When that limit is reached — as it was in this recession — fiscal policy must carry a bigger load.

In economies with a lot of slack, fiscal multipliers (the change in output that follows from any change in the fiscal balance) are more powerful than usual. This recession, because of its unusual depth, has supplied new evidence to back up this rule, and the U.K.’s attempt to refute the logic with “expansionary austerity” is widely seen as a failure despite some recent tentative signs of recovery.

Moreover, unconventional monetary policy, the other alternative to changes in short-term interest rates, can’t yet be called a success. Only when the Federal Reserve and other central banks end their vast asset-purchase programs will it be possible to render a verdict on quantitative easing as a partial substitute for fiscal stimulus. So far, it looks as though it has helped. Let’s see how the exit goes before we declare it a triumph.

So, I am making this a bit short but I really can feel the eyes strain again.  What’s on your reading and blogging list today?  And please, join me in our way down memory lane ….

32 Comments on “Friday Reads and a weird anniversary”

  1. ecocatwoman's avatar ecocatwoman says:
    June 7, 2013 at 6:50 am

    I only visited your blog on occasion in the “early days”, having found you from TC. I too shared the anger for the “get Hillary” DNC campaign. Who could have predicted the toxic anti-woman climate that would overtake our country in the following years? Where are those darn crystal balls when we need them?

    Sadly, and I won’t speak for others – just myself, the 2008 & 2013 elections compare best to a choice of being beaten & raped to being tortured, raped & murdered. The 1st being Obama & the 2nd being the Repugnant ticket. Does what is happening in America suck? Hell yeah. However, I can’t help but believe that with a Repugnant in the WH things would be even worse.

    I tried voting 3rd party twice & it accomplished nothing except being personally blamed for Gore losing Florida. If only my one measly vote carried that much weight. Seriously, our political choices suck – death by being torn apart by a pack of wolves or torn apart by a grizzly bear. Gee, which to choose, which to choose? Could I have a glass of hemlock instead, please?

    So sorry you are suffering so much from your sinus infection. I sure hope it clears up soon. Being sick & not able to function is miserable. Life goes on & the things we must do tend to pile up while we recover. May things return to normal for you really, really soon. If you’re up to it, I highly recommend the Vicks waterless vaporizer, cheap & available at nearly every pharmacy. It’s saved the lives of several cats/kittens for me even though it’s made/sold for humans.

    • Beata's avatar Beata says:
      June 7, 2013 at 11:26 am

      Congrats on your anniversary, Dak. June 7th is my parents’ wedding anniversary, too. Your blog turned out much better than that relationship.

      I remember June of 2008 but am trying very hard to forget it. Not a happy time personally or politically.

      I hope you will soon be feeling healthy again, Dak. Take care. Better times ahead for all of us just around the corner.

  2. Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)'s avatar Mona (aka Wonk the Vote) says:
    June 7, 2013 at 8:03 am

    Oh I frigg’n remember June 7, 2008.

  3. minkoffminx's avatar JJ Lopez Minkoff says:
    June 7, 2013 at 8:22 am

    They are declassifying the Verizon “stuff”…US declassifies phone program details after uproar

    The top U.S. intelligence official is declassifying key details about a secret surveillance program—a rare move meant to tamp down a public uproar spurred by the disclosure of the government’s massive collection of Americans’ data, aimed at combating terrorism.

    Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-06-declassifies-uproar.html#jCp

    • minkoffminx's avatar JJ Lopez Minkoff says:
      June 7, 2013 at 9:27 am

      I’ll just put this link here: All the Infrastructure a Tyrant Would Need, Courtesy of Bush and Obama – Conor Friedersdorf – The Atlantic

      What we know is that the people in charge will possess the capacity to be tyrants — to use power oppressively and unjustly — to a degree that Americans in 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, or 2000 could’ve scarcely imagined. To an increasing degree, we’re counting on having angels in office and making ourselves vulnerable to devils. Bush and Obama have built infrastructure any devil would lust after. Behold the items on an aspiring tyrant’s checklist that they’ve provided their successors:

      A precedent that allows the president to kill citizens in secret without prior judicial or legislative review

      The power to detain prisoners indefinitely without charges or trial

      Ongoing warrantless surveillance on millions of Americans accused of no wrongdoing, converted into a permanent database so that data of innocents spied upon in 2007 can be accessed in 2027

      Using ethnic profiling to choose the targets of secret spying, as the NYPD did with John Brennan’s blessing

      Normalizing situations in which the law itself is secret — and whatever mischief is hiding in those secret interpretations

      The permissibility of droning to death people whose identities are not even known to those doing the killing

      The ability to collect DNA swabs of people who have been arrested even if they haven’t been convicted of anything

      A torture program that could be restarted with an executive order

      Even if you think Bush and Obama exercised those extraordinary powers responsibly, what makes you think every president would? How can anyone fail to see the huge potential for abuses?

      I am not saying that no one would resist a tyrant. Perhaps Congress would assert itself. Perhaps the people would rise up. Then again, perhaps it would be too late by the time the tyrant’s abuses were evident. (America has had horrific abuses of power in the past under weaker executives who were less empowered by technology; and numerous other countries haven’t pegged tyrants until it was too late.) Part of the problem is how much the Bush-Obama paradigm permits the executive to do in secret. Take that paradigm, add another successful 9/11-style attack, even after many years of very little terrorism, and who knows what would happen?

  4. Fannie's avatar Fannie says:
    June 7, 2013 at 10:32 am

    Hope you feel better Dak…………….congrats on the five year mark, am happy to be one of the originals dancers here. Like I said yesterday, going back to 2007/2008 was like a flashbulb in my face. And I can’t forget the attitudes towards Hillary from the Obots, and then Palin showed up out of nowhere. There was awhole of crucifying going on, still is. Misogyny is worst than I ever thought it would in 21st century.

    I was so pissed, I didn’t vote for Obama in 2008. He couldn’t muster up the nerve to stand up and say enough of the sexism. But he did say he was against the war, yet on stage to his right and to his left were men who supported the war, but it Hillary he went after. I was so fucking outraged,and still somewhat distraught over so called “history making” crap. Oh yeah, he was going to be upfront and transparent alright. How’s that working for him now? Hope and change my arse. Got bitch, and the claws coming out, les we forget…………..likeable enough. It is going to be one long hot summer, 4 fucking years of it.

  5. peggysue22's avatar peggysue22 says:
    June 7, 2013 at 11:07 am

    Take care of those eyeballs, Dak. It’s a wicked allergy season out there. I’m taking all kinds of allergy med, getting shots every other week and my eyes are still scratchy as hell. Getting my contacts in each morning is a major challenge. But sinus infections are absolutely miserable.

    The assault on the Obama WH is amazing. Timing is everything, too. All the excesses that POTUS promised to alleviate is coming back to haunt him and his supporters. But I must say, I’m getting a kick out of some Dems who claim they’re shocked, positively shocked by the turn of events. Really???? Or defending the indefensible–the Government spying into personal emails, vids, whatever of citizens. All in the name of defense. Linsey Graham may not mind his telephone calls being monitored or data swept but the vast majority of Americans do.

    Even more entertaining are the other howling Republicans, the very architects of surveillance and civil right abuse. They’re outraged, didn’t dream that this could happen. Oh, please! They put together the so-called Patriot Act and now they’re shocked at excess? I guess they think we all fell off a turnip truck.

    Joe Cannon has an interesting piece up on the PRISM revelation and how well timed all these leaks are. I tend to agree that the wave seems too convenient to be mere coincidence, that this deluge of revealing leaks looks more like a planned assault, a power play behind the velvet curtains.

    It’s going to be a lo-o-ong, hot summer.

  6. RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
    June 7, 2013 at 12:15 pm

    Happy Blog Anniversary!

  7. RalphB's avatar RalphB says:
    June 7, 2013 at 1:07 pm

    Wonkette: IRSghazi: Now With History’s Two Greatest Monsters

    Hi wingnuts! How goes things with the IRS “scandal” today? Still trying to make something, anything, stick to the White House like poop on rabbit fur? Because by our count you’re batting about 0-for-eleventy-billion so far.

  8. Boo Radly's avatar Boo Radly says:
    June 7, 2013 at 9:59 pm

    Sincere THANK YOU for the five years of excellence in coverage on all things that matter Dak. Then you added an amazing group of other posters. Commenters are no slackers either. Rest those eyes and take care.

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